Two people in Mississippi died in weather-related incidents Tuesday, the governor said, as severe storms struck the region and knocked out power to tens of thousands of people.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves expressed his condolences and asked residents to join he and his wife, Elee Reeves, in prayer after the two storm-related deaths.
A social media post by the governor announcing the two deaths did not provide further details on the circumstances.
The storms prompted high wind warnings for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and for New Orleans as revelers in those cities and elsewhere celebrated Mardi Gras, but no major damage was reported.
Two EF-1 tornadoes touched down in Caddo Parish, including in North Shreveport, shortly after 9 a.m., the National Weather Service said. Peak winds for both were estimated at 93 mph, it said. No injuries were reported.
Millions of tourists and locals bedecked in beads, costumes and purple, yellow and green flocked to New Orleans to revel in raucous Fat Tuesday festivities, including iconic parades, music and food.
Two of the biggest parades — the Zulu and the Rex — started earlier than normal and on shorter routes because of the weather. Meanwhile, all carnival parades in Jefferson Parish were canceled because of high wind concerns.
Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng called the decision difficult. "This is disappointing, but our top priority is ensuring the well-being of everyone in our community, and we must always prioritize safety above all else," she said.
In New Orleans, some took the weather in stride.
“We from New Orleans, so we out here anyways; it don’t even matter. Rain or shine, we’re outside,” a participant told NBC News’ Jesse Kirsch.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick expressed her joy that the main parades were able to go on successfully, albeit earlier than usual, calling the cooperative weather "an answered prayer."
“Canceling the parades would have been the easier decision, but leadership doesn’t always mean an easy decision. ... When we cooperate we can make things happen,” she told NBC affiliate WDSU of New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon.
Much of the country was under alerts Tuesday because of a major March storm. Blizzard warnings covered the Kansas City, Missouri, area as well as parts of Iowa early Wednesday, and most of Wisconsin was under a winter storm warning.
High wind advisories covered a huge section of the country, from Dallas, Texas, to Raleigh, North Carolina, and from Georgia to Ohio, according to the National Weather Service.
By late Tuesday, more than 296,000 electricity customers were without power in Texas and parts of the South, according to outage tracking website poweroutage.us, with Alabama and Texas the hardest hit.
Strong wind hit Lewisville, in North Texas, on Tuesday morning and partly collapsed a Benjamin Moore Paints warehouse. Officials were still working to confirm whether the damage was caused by a tornado. In Parker County, near Fort Worth, three RVs were overturned because of severe weather and high winds, and one was destroyed. One person sustained minor injuries, Parker County Emergency Services District No. 1 said.
The city of Ada, Oklahoma, reported that the severe storm caused “significant damage” to structures, power lines, gas lines and trees.” One person was reported to have been injured, and 24 families were displaced.
Dust storms created nearly zero-visibility conditions in parts of New Mexico and west Texas on Monday. There, a high wind warning was in effect through the evening. The weather service in Midland and Odessa warned that widespread potentially damaging wind gusts up to 65 mph were expected and that “winds and blowing dust may be dangerous to drivers.”
On Wednesday, the storm is forecast to sweep into the East Coast, creating severe risk from Florida to Pennsylvania and bringing heavy snow to parts of the Midwest.
